Chetrit and Bistricer Push Forward at Flatotel After Acquisition and Loan

City records published yesterday confirm the previously reported $180 million sale of the Flatotel at 135 West 52nd Street to Joe Chetrit and David Bistricer.

Chetrit Group and Mr. Bistricer’s Clipper Equities went into contract to purchase the property from a joint venture involving Rockpoint Group, Atlas Capital and Procaccianti Group earlier this year.

Last week the duo snagged a reported $115 million loan for the condo conversion project and plan to use the financing – arranged by Meridian Capital Group – to push forward with its redevelopment plans for the 47-story, 288-room vacant hotel.

(Credite: wirednewyork.com)

They plan to convert the asset into a five-floor, 64,400-square-foot boutique office condominium and 173-unit luxury residential condominium, with the office component spanning floors two through seven and the residential portion across floors eight through 47.

But it was the duo’s purchase of the Sony Building that cast them into the commercial real estate limelight earlier this year. The $1.1 billion purchase of that property pitted Mr. Bistricer and Mr. Chetrit against industry heavyweights likeJoseph Sitt and Harry Macklowe, winning a competitive bid by slapping down a jaw-dropping $600 million letter of credit to seal the deal.

They plan to turn that tower into residential condominiums and a hotel, and to retrofit the retail space.

In addition, Mr. Bistricer and Mr. Chetrit plan to transform the Bossert Hotel in Brooklyn Heights into a boutique luxury hotel with about 300 rooms, after paying the $81 million for it last year; and they recently went into contract to purchase the 1.5-acre former Cabrini Medical Centersite at Second Avenue and East 19th Street.